Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor had 'physical altercation' with late Queen's aide
One royal source said that "the Duke had an overriding belief that he was better than the rest of us. His self-confidence and entitlement was off the scale."
Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor got involved in a 'physical altercation' with a senior aide to the late Queen, it has been alleged.
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The former Duke of York has been accused of lashing out at Vice-Admiral Sir Tony Johnstone-Burt, master of the Royal household, after being told Buckingham Palace could not host a Pitch@Palace event.
The project was launched by Andrew in 2014 as a Dragons'-Den style start-up competition and ran until 2019.
“It was a routine household matter. The duke wanted to have a reception and there wasn't any room. It was as simple as that,” a senior staff member told royal author Robert Hardman in an excerpt from his book Elizabeth II which has been serialised in the Daily Mail.
“Tony said he'd have to wait his turn like anybody else and the duke went for him.”
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One senior staff member described the incident to Hardman as a "kinetic blow" that triggered astonishment across the royal household.
Sir Tony, master of the household since 2013, then reported the incident to the Lord Chamberlain, Lord Peel, who raised it with then-Prince Charles. He then allegedly spoke to Andrew about the incident.
Hardman claims that an unapologetic Andrew then rang the Lord Chamberlain and allegedly said: “I gather you’ve been calling people and causing problems.”
It has been reported that the late Prince Philip was so appalled that he wrote to Sir Tony apologising for his son's poor behaviour.
The book also claims that Andrew spurned the palace's advice when he agreed to be interviewed by Emily Maitlis for Newsnight in 2019.
Lord Peel told Hardman: "The Duke had an overriding belief that he was better than the rest of us. His self-confidence and entitlement was off the scale."
Andrew was stripped of his titles and told to leave his home at Royal Lodge by the King last year.
In February he was arrested on his 66th birthday in Norfolk following the release of the Jeffrey Epstein files a few weeks earlier. He was released after 11 hours and remains under investigation on suspicion of misconduct in a public office.
Buckingham Palace has been approached for comment.